


Ashes to Ashes: Secret Santa

by MorganaNK



Category: Ashes to Ashes
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 06:45:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7350121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganaNK/pseuds/MorganaNK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fluffy non-cannon Christmas fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ashes to Ashes: Secret Santa

**Author's Note:**

> Characters are the property of Matthew Graham, Ashley Pharoah, the BBC and all other interested parties.  
> No copyright infringement intended

Alex looked down at the small slip of paper on her desk that had been tormenting her for the last three hours. It contained only one short word; four letters that were making her stress levels elevate to almost epic proportions.

She dragged her gaze away, looking up and around CID. No one appeared to notice that there was anything untoward going on. Her gaze then strayed to the office at the far end of the room; the Manc Lion in his den; feet up on the desk and dozing.

She looked back down at the piece of paper, muttering a curse under her breath that Gene himself would have been proud of. Standing, she balled the piece of paper up in her fist, pulled on her coat and announced to the room.

“If anyone needs me I will be going to see an informant.”

She didn’t wait for an answer, sweeping out of CID before anyone could comment or question and making her way out of the station and across the road to her flat.

~.~.~.

Alex slumped down onto the sofa, kicking off her heels and then curling her legs up beside her. She was desperate for a glass of wine, but knew that she needed a clear head in order to work out just what to do about the problem she now found herself saddled with.

She had no one to blame but herself; it had been her idea that CID have a Secret Santa this year; she had thought that it might be a fun thing to do, to get everyone involved and fill the team with the spirit of the season. What she hadn’t counted on was drawing Gene’s name out of the hat; the man made the Grinch look festive! And just what did you buy the man whose only interests were drinking, smoking, driving and sarcasm? She certainly wasn’t going to encourage him in his disgusting habits, which was why she had such a problem on her hands.

She sighed deeply; that wasn’t the only reason she couldn’t think what to buy Gene. In the two and a bit years that she had been in his world she had grown rather fond of him; not that she believed she would ever have the courage to tell him that. Who would have thought that the one thing her heart craved was an overweight, misogynistic, chain-smoking alcoholic who thought he was the Stig!

It was looking more and more unlikely that she would ever make it home to Molly; if the truth were to be told Molly was becoming a distant memory; Alex was finding it harder and harder to picture her face. The longer she spent with Gene the less the pain of being separated from her daughter ripped at her very soul. It was as if he was filling the hole that being apart from Molly had created.

She sighed again. What she wouldn’t give right now for the internet or shopping channels; in fact anything that would possibly give her some form of inspiration on what to buy for the man who held her heart; the man who thought Christmas was a load of claptrap created solely to torture the mind and the wallet.

~.~.~.

Gene woke from his doze and surveyed his kingdom, his eyes alighting on the empty desk where his DI should be. He swung his legs down off his desk and stalked towards the door to his office, flinging it open.

“Where’s Madam Fruitcake?”

All of CID looked at him blankly; except for Shaz.

“She said she was going to see an informant Guv.”

Gene pouted; bloody woman running off on her own. How many times was it now that he had had to step in and save her? He turned his full attention on Shaz.

“Well, if you hear from her, or if she deigns to reappear, tell her that her presence is required in my office.”

With that Gene turned on his heel and, slamming the office door behind him, headed back towards his desk.

As he resumed his original position his pout grew more pronounced. Just what was it about that bloody woman; all fur coat, no knickers and no brains? He cared about her; he had done since the day he had carried her into the office; but that didn’t explain why she had got under his skin and occupied his thoughts every waking moment of every day. He even dreamed about her; dreams that would leave him frustrated as all hell and wishing that he had the courage to do something about the situation.

He slid open his drawer and stared at the piece of paper that was lying there. Just one word was written upon it; Alex.

He hadn’t wanted anything to do with the Secret Santa bollocks, and he had told her as much. But then he had seen the hurt his rejection had caused, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, and he had decided that even he couldn’t be that much of a bastard at Christmas; there was no way that he wanted to turn out like his old man; ruining the season for everyone he came into contact with; so he swallowed his pride and drew a name out of the hat. It was just his luck that it had turned out to be hers.

He had no idea what to get her. In the days when there had been a Mrs Hunt he hadn’t been that thoughtful, and she would be lucky if he turned up for Christmas, let alone if he had remembered to buy her a gift. All that mattered to him was work, women and wine. He couldn’t even remember why they had got married in the first place; except that it was the expected thing to do. He and Elsie had been so wrong for each other; and it had been a blessing when she had left him for someone else, they had been tearing each other apart almost from the moment they had said ‘I do’.

But Alex was different; Alex meant something; and therefore he didn’t want to just pick up a bunch of flowers from the nearest petrol station; but at the same time he didn’t want to look like a complete poof. He sighed deeply and poured himself another drink and, settling back in his chair, he decided that he would think on the problem some more.

~.~.~.

Alex had been thinking for hours and yet she was still none the wiser. Beer o’clock had long since passed, but she hadn’t noticed, too wrapped up in her thoughts. 

She was angry at herself; an adult, a mature human being, and yet she was tying herself up in knots over a small token gift for her boss. Even as the thoughts entered her mind a little voice deep inside of her scolded her for not being truthful, he wasn’t just her boss, he was the man she had been looking for all of her life. The voice continued its internal chastisement, telling her that if she really was so adult and mature then she would do something about it; she would act on her feelings instead of hiding away in her flat.

Her train of thought was derailed by a loud hammering on her front door. Getting up off the sofa and heading towards it, she knew who was there before she opened it; there was only one person who announced his arrival in such a manner; the man who had been occupying her thoughts so thoroughly for most of the afternoon.

She opened the door to find him leaning casually against the wall. She acknowledged him with one word.

“Guv.”

“Good evening Lady Bolls; still alive then?”

She stood back to let him pass, closing the door behind him and following him into the lounge.

“It would appear so Guv.”

“I did wonder, seeing as you disappeared from the office over four hours ago.”

“I went to see an informant Guv, I did tell everyone.”

“Don’t remember you coming into my office and telling me; so you hardly told everyone. And what was so important that you had to spend all afternoon with this informant? Something I should know about?”

“I’m a DI Gene, not everything I do has to be run past you.”

“My kingdom, my rules.”

~.~.~.

Gene was relieved to see that Alex was in one piece. He had spent the best part of the afternoon worrying about her, and had then sat in Luigi’s waiting for her to appear and join him for a glass or ten of house rubbish. When she hadn’t appeared he had decided to go and check on her; telling himself that it was for her benefit and nothing to do with the fact that he couldn’t go home and rest before he knew that she was ok.

He ignored the angry look on her face as he laid down the law; prepared to feel her wrath now he knew that she was safe. He was surprised when she didn’t verbally lash out at him; instead heading to the kitchen and returning with two glasses and a bottle of red. She filled both of the glasses, passing one to him, and then resumed her place on the sofa.

“What Bolls, no words of wisdom? No lectures? Are you ill?”

“No Gene, I am not ill, I am just not going to waste any energy fighting with you. We shall agree to disagree and leave it at that.”

He sat down next to her and sipped his wine in stunned silence, eventually deciding to try and draw her into conversation of a different kind.

“So, this Secret Santa lark; who did you get?”

Alex laughed.

“It’s called secret for a reason Gene, you’re not supposed to know who the gift is from.”

“Spoilsport! I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

“Finish your wine Guv, I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”

“”Now there’s an offer I might just take you up on Bolls.”

~.~.~.

Alex wandered into her lounge and smiled at the sight that greeted her. Curled up under the blue blanket from the back of the sofa was Gene. Her heart swelled as she looked at him; she hadn’t had the heart to throw him out last night, plus he was probably too drunk to be in charge of the Quattro anyway, and so she had let him crash on the sofa. 

He looked much younger in sleep; the pout and the worry that always seemed to grace his face had been smoothed away, leaving a peaceful countenance. Alex was loathe to disturb him, and decided to let him sleep while she headed out to do some shopping. It was a Saturday and neither of them were on duty that weekend, Ray was in charge unless something major happened that he and Chris couldn’t deal with. She left a note on the coffee table next to Gene’s lighter and then headed out the door.

~.~.~.

Saturday night found Alex and Gene sitting at their usual table at Luigi’s. They were opposite each other, mirroring the other’s position, totally relaxed in each other’s company and oblivious to the rest of CID who were sitting across the room, watching them.

“The Guv and Ma’am, do you think they’re shagging?”

Ray made the dickhead sign at Chris while Shaz slapped him on the arm.

“Don’t be so crude! I think it’s lovely that they’ve got each other.”

“You daft plonk! The Guv hasn’t got anyone; he doesn’t do relationships, he just shags them and then moves on. And anyway, there’s no way he’d shag her, she’s too high maintenance. He prefers them blonde with big tits!”

Shaz looked down at her drink, too disgusted to say anything further.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the bottom of her wineglass Alex found some courage that she never knew she had. She knew that it was now or never.

“We’ve still got that copy of They Died With Their Boots On upstairs that we haven’t watched.”

Gene lazily raised one eyebrow.

“You propositioning me Bolls?”

“If you like Guv. So, what about it?”

Gene stood and swayed slightly, holding out his hand to her.

“Get your coat love, you’ve pulled!”

~.~.~.

Gene collapsed onto the sofa while trying to shrug off his coat at the same time. Alex wandered over to the shelf where the remains of the bottle of wine from the previous evening was standing. Picking it and two glasses up, she walked the short distance to the coffee table, placed the bottle and glasses on it, and then fell onto the sofa next to Gene.

“So Lady Bolls, now that you have got me here, what do you intend to do with me?”

Alex felt a little shy; it had all seemed so easy downstairs, but what if he rejected her, what if he didn’t feel the same way about her. She was sure that must be able to hear her heart as it pounded in her chest.

“Guv… Gene, I hope you know that I consider us to be friends…”

“Bloody hell Bolls, spit it out will you.”

The next thing Gene knew Alex had straddled him and was kissing him passionately. It took him a few seconds to respond, but then his lips met hers with equal fervour. When air became an issue they broke apart; Alex resting her forehead against his.

“This better not be a game Alex.”

“No game Gene; just me finally waking up and realising what I want from this world and who I want to share it with.”

Gene swept her into his arms and carried her through to the bedroom. As he gently laid her on the bed he looked into her eyes, searching for some sign that this was all a joke, but all he saw reflected back at him was desire and longing.

“You sure about this Alex.”

She laced her fingers through his hair and pulled him to her, “Very sure.”

~.~.~.

Alex recognised the writing on the label of her Secret Santa gift and smiled. Carefully unwrapping it she discovered a small square box with a lid. Opening it her breath caught in her throat; nestled inside was a tiny rose quartz heart and a note that read; “I didn’t know what to get you, so I’m giving you my heart… G x”

She looked up in the direction of his office, where he sat with her parcel on the desk in front of him. She wondered how he would react when he opened it and found virtually the same thing inside that he had given her, only her heart was a miniature hip flask; since she and Gene had got together a few short nights earlier she had changed her mind about encouraging his disgusting habits, in fact she didn’t find them disgusting any more; she loved him and everything about him, she had just been denying it for far too long. Standing and smiling to herself, she slipped the box in her pocket and then made her way to Gene’s office. She wasn’t going to let them waste any more time.


End file.
